Debate brewing over what attracted GE's 1,400 jobs to SW Ohio

State policies or community treatment

The debate has started on what attracted GE to build its U.S. global operations center in southwest Ohio. Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor said that state policies certainly played a part, but that is not how Ohio’s democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown sized it up Tuesday. Brown feels it is how the community has treated GE in the past that drew them to the area.

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"Obviously what's going on in Ohio with tax policy, the financial condition of the state, having a balanced budget, having $1.5 billion in our state rainy day fund," Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor said.

Taylor said that state policies certainly played a part, but that is not how Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown sized it up Tuesday.

"I know the people at GE well enough to know that they really do like how this community has treated them over the years, and I think that's the reason more than anything. Not state incentives or not anything the Governor did, but what this community has done for GE and the relationship they've had," Brown said.

Taylor said Ohio's status four years ago as a "fly-over state" has changed to an "on-the-radar state" when it comes to business opportunity.

Companies like GE are feeling better about Ohio’s stability and certainty when it comes to tax cuts and bond rating, Taylor said.